April 28 – Biological Clock Day

nPostednon April 28, 2014

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Antime to sleep, a time to awake,

nAntime to work, a time to relax,

nAntime to eat, a time to refrain from eating…

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nYournbody knows when it is time to do things like go to sleep, wake up,nand eat, because it has a biological clock! Other animals, too, havenbiological clocks – as do plants, fungi and even cyanobacteria!

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nThenbiological clock we associate with daily routines such as sleepingnand eating is called “circadian rhythm.” There are othern“biological clocks” associated with seasonal or yearly rhythms.nWe even refer to a biological clock “ticking” when we talk aboutnadults’ ability and desire to have children.

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nIncouldn’t find out why today, of all days, is Biological Clock Day,nbut I do think it’s a great excuse to learn more about thisnintriguing topic!

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nThenbiological clock has three parts.

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nThenfirst part is the ability to sense changes in light and temperature;nthese cues are used to set the biological clock. As you can guess,nour eyes and nerve endings are used to sense light and temperature.nBut it’s interesting to note that blind animals that live in darkncave environments with steady temperatures still have circadiannrhythms. Also, if you deprive people and other animals of light, youncan disrupt their circadian rhythms to some extent, but they willndevelop new rhythms in absence of the usual cues.

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nThensecond part of the biological clock is what we can call “clockngenes.” Scientists are trying to understand exactly how they work.nNew discoveries in this area will help us to treat sleep disordersnsuch as narcolepsy, and they may also help us fight cancer, becausenclock genes are used in cell production and cell suicide – andnuncontrolled cell production and failure of cells to commit suicidenare basically what defines cancer.

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Thenthird part of the biological clock is the genes that help thenbiological clock control the activity of other genes. Brain wavenactivity, hormone production, cell regeneration, and many othernbiological processes are all coordinated by the biological clock withnthe coordinating power of these genes.

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nStayingnup all night, flying into another time zone, and using special “sun”nlamps are all ways of messing with your biological clock. Jet lag andnseasonal affective disorder (SAD, a problem many people have duringnsunless winters) are both examples of problems people experience withntheir circadian rhythms. Hopefully we will someday know enough aboutnclock genes and the genes that help them control our bodily functionsnto develop better medicines and treatments of these and othernproblems.

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